Ishi-Addu
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Išḫi-Addu or Ishi-Addu was king of
Qatna Qatna (modern: ar, تل المشرفة, Tell al-Mishrifeh) (also Tell Misrife or Tell Mishrifeh) was an ancient city located in Homs Governorate, Syria. Its remains constitute a tell situated about northeast of Homs near the village of al-M ...
in the first half of the 18th century BC. He is known for his correspondences with
Shamshi-Adad I Shamshi-Adad ( akk, Šamši-Adad; Amorite: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1808–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia.Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamsi-Ada ...
of
Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
who was his closest ally. Qatna was at its height during Išḫi-Addu's reign, which was, however, plagued with revolts in the southern parts of the kingdom and with constant war with
Yamhad Yamhad was an ancient Semitic kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo), Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC, and was ruled by the Yamhadite dynasty kings, who counted on both military and diplomacy to expand their realm. ...
, Qatna's northern neighbour.


Reign

Išḫi-Addu is mainly known from his correspondences with Mari for a period of six years between c. 1783–1778 BC. When his reign began is uncertain; he succeeded Amut-piʾel I, who is most probably his father. Qatna was at its apex during the reign of Išḫi-Addu; he was the overlord of Hazor, and the many kingdoms of
Amurru Amurru may refer to: * Amurru kingdom, roughly current day western Syria and northern Lebanon * Amorite, ancient Syrian people * Amurru (god) Amurru, also known under the Sumerian name Martu, was a Mesopotamian god who served as the divine perso ...
which controlled the central
Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
ine coast between
Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 880 ...
and
Ugarit ) , image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg , image_size=300 , alt = , caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit , map_type = Near East#Syria , map_alt = , map_size = 300 , relief=yes , location = Latakia Governorate, Syria , region = F ...
acknowledged his authority. Išḫi-Addu was a close ally of
Shamshi-Adad I Shamshi-Adad ( akk, Šamši-Adad; Amorite: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1808–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia.Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamsi-Ada ...
of Assyria who conquered Mari and installed his son
Yasmah-Adad Yasmah-Adad (Yasmah-Addu, Yasmakh-Adad, Ismah-Adad, Iasmakh-Adad) was the younger son of the Amorite king of Upper Mesopotamia, Shamshi-Adad I. He was put on throne of Mari by his father after a successful military attack following the assassinati ...
on its throne. The alliance between Qatna and Assyria was concluded shortly after Yasmah-Adad installation; it was cemented by the c. 1782 BC marriage of Dam-Ḫuraṣi, Išḫi-Addu's daughter, to Yasmah-Adad. The dowry of Qatna's princess was huge and Išhi-Addu demanded his vassals to contribute; a tablet discovered in Hazor contains orders from Qatna for the providing of large quantities of commodities such as textiles, objects made of precious metals and weapons. Since early in their history, Qatna and
Yamhad Yamhad was an ancient Semitic kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo), Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC, and was ruled by the Yamhadite dynasty kings, who counted on both military and diplomacy to expand their realm. ...
shared a hostile relation; the situation worsened during Išḫi-Addu's reign and evolved into border warfare. Qatna occupied the city of
Parga Parga ( el, Πάργα ) is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the regional unit of Preveza in Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on the Ionian coast between the ...
in the region of
Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...
th for a while before
Sumu-Epuh Sumu-Epuh (reigned Middle chronology) is the first attested king of Yamhad (Halab). He founded the Yamhad dynasty which controlled northern Syria throughout the 17th and 18th centuries BC. Reign Although Sumu-Epuh's early life or the way he asce ...
of Yamhad retook it. In the south, Išḫi-Addu faced a general rebellion; after petitions by Qatna, Shamshi-Adad sent an army to help Išḫi-Addu dealing with the rebellion. Shamshi-Adad planned to send an army of 20,000 soldiers and for his son Yasmah-Adad to lead them leadership, but these plans could not be realized. Instead, a much more modest army was sent under command from generals who were put in the service of Išḫi-Addu in c. 1781 BC. The Assyrian troops avoided engaging Yamhad and did not participate in its war with Qatna while Išḫi-Addu took up residence in Qadeš to oversee the suppression of the rebellion, which apparently was supported by Yamhad. A fortress near lake
Qattinah Qattinah ( ar, قطينة, Qaṭṭīnah, also spelled Kattineh) is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate, located south of Homs. It is situated at the northeastern end of Lake Homs which is also known as "Lake ...
was named after the king "Dur-Išḫi-Addu". The archive of Mari contains many letters from Išḫi-Addu to Shamshi-Adad and his sons; in one of them, the king of Qatna tried to persuade Yasmah-Adad to join him in conquering three cities, telling his son in law that a big booty awaits them. There was also an incident where Yasmah-Adad detained messengers from Qatna causing Shamshi-Adad to write a sharp letter to his son ordering him to release the messengers. After four years in the service of Qatna, Shamshi-Adad ordered his troops back and it might be connected to a peace treaty between Assyria and
Yarim-Lim I Yarim-Lim I, also given as Yarimlim, (reigned ) was the second king of the ancient Amorite kingdom of Yamhad in modern-day Aleppo, Syria. Family Parentage Yarim-Lim was the son and successor of the first king Sumu-Epuh and his queen Sumunna-Abi. ...
, son of Sumu-Epuh; Išḫi-Addu, who in the past declared that "even if Shamshi-Adad would conclude peace with Sumu-epuh, I will never make peace with Sumu-epuh, as long as I live!", was delivered a heavy blow. The sources of Mari are silent on how the king dealt with the situation that resulted from Shamshi-Adad's peace with Yamhad, and by the time they resumed mentioning Qatna in c. 1772 BC, Išḫi-Addu was dead and succeeded by his son
Amut-piʾel II Amut-piʾel II was a king of Qatna in the 18th century BC. His reign is attested in the archive of Mari between c. 1772-1762 BC, after which, Mari was destroyed by Hammurabi of Babylon and no more information is known about Amut-piʾel. He was the ...
.


Personality

Judging by his letters, the king had a great ability to whine whenever he felt insulted; shortly after Shamshi-Adad's death, tension between Išḫi-Addu and the Assyrian king's eldest son
Ishme-Dagan I Ishme-Dagan I ( akk, Išme-Dagān, script=Latn, italic=yes) was a monarch of Ekallatum and Assur during the Old Assyrian period. The much later Assyrian King List (AKL) credits Ishme-Dagan I with a reign of forty years; however, it is now known fr ...
occurred. The king of Assyria asked for two horses from Qatna, and it seems that Išḫi-Addu asked for something in return, but Ishme-Dagan sent a small amount of the horses real value and seems to not have met Išḫi-Addu's request causing the latter to write an angry message, which was apparently intercepted in Mari by Yasmah-Adad who had interest in keeping his brother and father in law at peace. His letters concerning his daughter also reveal a man capable of compassion; he wrote Yasmah-Adad: "I am placing in your lap my flesh and my future. Your maid i have given you, may god prove her attractive to you. I am placing in your lap my flesh and my future, for this throne ('house') has now become yours and Mari's has now become mine".


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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend 18th-century BC rulers Amorite kings Qatna 18th-century BC people